An Israeli air strike on Syrian military targets in response to Tuesday’s explosion which wounded four Israeli soldiers patrolling the border between the two countries is covered by the Guardian, Times, Metro and the online editions of the Telegraph and Financial Times. Israel said that it holds the Assad regime responsible for the blast, although many suspect that either Assad’s Hezbollah ally or an Islamist opposition group carried out the explosion. Syrian authorities said that one soldier was killed and seven wounded by Israel’s air response. The Guardian online highlights the Syrian government’s claim that Israel’s air strike “endangers the security and stability of the region.”

The Financial Times features comments made by Nabil Sha’ath, a senior official in Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction. Sha’ath said that the United States is not an honest broker in peace talks between Israel and the PA. He added that if negotiations break down, then the PA will consider supporting a full boycott of Israel, not only West Bank produce and will also turn to international organisations for redress on disputes with Israel.

The Telegraph online covers criticism by United States officials over comments made by Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon. In a speech at Tel Aviv University on Tuesday, Ya’alon said that the US is projecting an image of weakness in international affairs which would ultimately encourage terrorism. Unnamed US officials expressed “shock” at Ya’alon’s comments and accused him of undermining US-Israel relations.

The Independent includes a feature on how Syria’s secular uprising has been hijacked by jihadists. Meanwhile, the Times online says that al-Qaeda in Yemen has sent an envoy to Syria in order to heal the rifts between Islamist opposition groups ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, which have been fighting against each other for several months.

In the Israeli media, most headlines are dominated by the latest developments in what is known as the ‘Harpaz affair.’ A document forged by Lt.Col. Boaz Harpaz, which exacerbated serious tensions between then Defence Minister Ehud Barak and then Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi was first exposed in August 2010 and since then accusations have been traded between both sides over responsibility for the episode. Yesterday, former IDF spokesman Avi Benayahu and former aide to Ashkenazi, Erez Weiner were arrested and interrogated by police over their role in the affair, which is the headline story in Yediot Ahronot, Makor Rishon, Haaretz and Israel Hayom which speculates that Ashkenazi is likely to soon be questioned.

There is also plenty of coverage of the fallout from comments made by Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, in which he criticised United States foreign policy, leading US officials to chastise him directly. Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz describe the United States as being “furious” with Ya’alon, while Makor Rishon says that US officials demanded an apology from Ya’alon. Israel Radio news reports this morning that Ya’alon provided such an apology during a phone conversation with his US counterpart Chuck Hagel, saying that he had no intention to criticize the US or harm relations between the two countries. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon comments “either the defence minister knows something that we don’t or, how shall we put this delicately, he is simply a fool.”

Meanwhile, Makor Rishon highlights demonstrations at numerous locations across the country yesterday by ultra-Orthodox protestors against the new law which mandates military enlistment for the majority of ultra-Orthodox seminary students.